NOVITATES ZOOLOGIOAE XXII. 1915. d9'. 



(Alaemon alaudipes alaudipes Desf. 



The "Muka" does not breed iu the neighbourhood of the Hassi-Rebib, bnt 

 a pair or two occnr about halfway between the Oued N(;'a aud Ghardaia. 



I must here correct an error in the account of the birds of the Western Sahara. 

 In Noo. Zool. XX. p. 46 1 described two supposed clutches of A. a. alaudipes. 

 One was found in the usual way, in a nest on top of a small bush, and the eggs 

 are typical " Muka " eggs. The other clutch was brought in by one of our men 

 in the nest; he said the nest had stood on the ground, near a stone, but that 

 it was nevertheless a " Muka." The nest resembled that found oa the bush, the 

 eggs also, except that they were much smaller. I remarked at the time (I.e.) 

 that the position of the nest was an unusual one, and that the eggs were unusually 

 small I I had then no eggs of Ammomanes phoen. arenicolor to compare, more- 

 over we had seen plenty o? Alaemon, but after many days the Ammomonanes phoen. 

 arenicolor only appeared again for the first time in that place — a single pair 

 being seen. There can now be no doubt whatever that the two small eggs, 

 measuring 20 x 16 and20'l x 1.5'9 mm., are eggs oi Ammomanea phoen. arenicolor, 

 and nests of Alaemon alaudipes are always placed on the top of small bushes I 

 Though we took no eggs in 1914, we saw again empty ndsts and one with young.) 



11. "Alauda arvensis harterti Whit." 



We have identified the Skylarks breeding near Batna and Lambfese and 

 those on Djebel Mahmel as Alauda arvensis harterti, because — like the type 

 of the latter — they differ from the Skylarks wintering in Algeria by a longer 

 bill aud browner coloration. With those birds from the Aur6s Mountains and 

 Batua agree those nesting on the Hauts Plateaux, near Ain-Oussera. They are 

 not rare on the clayey steppe and among the meagre cornfields. 



It is desirable to compare a series from the breeding ground in North Tunisia. 

 Zedlitz's specimens from Lac Fetzara appear to be darker than ours from the 

 Plateaux and Anres Mountain district, but being very strongly worn comparison 

 is difficult. 



12. Calandrella brachydactyla rubig^inosa Fromh. 



Cf. Nin-. Zonl. xxi, I'.HI, p. I'j2. 



I have already mentioned, JS''oi). Zool. xx. p. 42, that the country east aud 

 west of Guerrara is probably the southernmost breeding-place .of Short-toed Larks. 



In April 1914 we found it not at all rare near the Oued-Nrja and between 

 the latter aud Guerrara. We obtained fresh eggs, two and three in a clutch, 

 on April 22nd, 23rd, 2.5th ; also a full clutch of four- near Ain-Oussera on May 12. 

 The eggs, as is well known, vary cousiilerably ; some are very elongate, others 

 shorter aud thicker, one clutch pyriform I They cannot be confounded with the 

 larger eggs of Ammomanes deserti algeriensis, nor with those of xi. phoen. arenicolor, 

 but some of the exceptionally small eggs of the Eremophila are sometimes almost 

 indistinguishable. 



{Calandrella minor was not met with, although I was particularly on the 

 look-out for it. It is a bird of the northernmost Sahara and parts of the Hauts 

 Plateaux only.) 



